Transformative Research

Engaging in transformational, innovative research and creative activity

  • IU will engage in high-impact research and creative activity to improve the lives of people in Indiana and beyond.
  • IU will enhance the impact of its research through targeted, strategic investments in important areas in which IU has proven strength or can identify distinct opportunities.
  • IU will facilitate greater research impact and more responsible stewardship by crossing disciplinary, geographic, and institutional boundaries to facilitate and draw on sustained interdisciplinary collaborations.
  • IU will increase research and creative activity; create a more pervasive culture of research; advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in its research community; expand research opportunities for students; and work to reduce or eliminate barriers to research.
  • IU will provide rational incentives, recognition, and rewards for research productivity and impact.
  • IU will allocate research facilities and assess those allocations regularly, based on productivity.
  • IU will expand its efforts to translate its research and creative activity to the public through a shared commitment to disclosure and licensing of inventions, discoveries, and innovations; entrepreneurship and commercialization; and partnerships with key constituencies.

IU will further this work throughout the university and with our statewide, national, and international partners.

How we'll measure success

  • Increase external sponsored research to $700 million annually.
  • Increase higher education R&D expenditures rank in NSF Higher Education Research and Development Survey to the top 35.
  • Increase sponsored research support from foundations, industry, and government contracts by 50%.
  • Double the number of external grants over $5 million.
  • Generate at least two $25 million+ "big idea" philanthropic gifts for research/creative activity.
  • Increase percentage of research-eligible faculty with external research funding to 40%.
  • Increase books and peer-reviewed articles per faculty to meet campus-specific goals.
  • Expand support for research grant submissions and increase number of grants received by underserved faculty.
  • Increase external funding to drive per-capita post-doctoral students to third quartile of median of AAU public universities.
  • Increase invention disclosures by 100%, licenses and license revenue by 25%, and annual number of faculty and student startups by 100%.
  • Reach the top 10 of NIH funding to public medical schools.

These are suggested metrics. Each campus will develop its own set of metrics to support the strategic plan framework.